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ANALYSIS OF 32-M DUAL REFLECTOR

CASSEGRAIN ANTENNA FEED SYSTEM AT
NKUNTUNSE, GHANA

ARTICLE JANUARY 2013

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Felix Madjitey T. Ansah - Narh

Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC) Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC)
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Rjeas Research Journal in Engineering and Applied Sciences 2(4) 230-235 Rjeas
Emerging Academy Resources (2013) (ISSN: 2276-8467)
www.emergingresource.org

ANALYSIS OF 32-M DUAL REFLECTOR CASSEGRAIN ANTENNA FEED

SYSTEM AT NKUNTUNSE, GHANA

F.T Madjitey, T. Ansah-Narh and J. Nsor

Ghana Space Science and Technology Institute, Ghana Atomic Energy Commission,
Box AE 1 Atomic Kwabenya- Ghana Department of Geology,
Corresponding Author: F.T Madjitey
__________________________________________________________________________________________
ABSTRACT
A high performance of an antenna defines the quality of service of a communication system. The most widely
used narrow beam antennas in satellite communication systems for the past several decades are reflector types.
Antenna feed system plays an important role in the overall antenna performance. The feed system is
characterized by calculating the dish efficiency versus f/D ratio and the necessary subreflector dimensions
needed to reshape the feedhorn pattern to properly illuminate the dish. The purpose of the study is to analyze the
single conical corrugated feed system of the 32-m Cassegrain Dual Reflector Antenna for obtaining high
performance of the antenna considering the effects of losses in the feed system due to the f/D ratio and the
hyperbola dimensions of the subreflector. In this paper, a simulation based analysis of a conical corrugated feed
horn is performed, using ICARA software which has been developed for the analysis and design of reflector
antennas and the analysis concentrated on f/D ratio, subreflector dimensions and reduction of cross-polarization.
From fig.3 (a-f), we realized that the focus of the 32-m Cassegrain antenna is located behind the vertex of the
main parabolic reflector. This facilitates the primary feed in this location with a 2.6701 m diameter aperture
incorporated in the main parabolic reflector design and high gain of 59.3702 dB. This configuration technically
eliminates distribution associated with the primary feed blocking the main reflector. Also we found that the
antennas subreflector diameter was greater than 10.0 wavelengths which is good to avoid degradation in
efficiency caused by diffractive effects to the feed efficiency. Adaptation of this antenna geometry and feed
system to the specific bands for smooth conversion for radio services presents excellent educational
opportunities in using the facility and a success for the Africa Very Long Baseline Interferometry Network
(AVN) initiates for Ghana.
Emerging Academy Resources

KEYWORDS: Primary feed, Cassegrain Dual Reflector, subreflector dimensions, conical corrugated feed horn,
ICARA
__________________________________________________________________________________________
INTRODUCTION has found application in telecommunications. It was
The proposal for converting a redundant 32- meter designed to operate as the Intelsat Standard A
Cassegrain Dual Reflector Antenna at Nkuntunse, specification of the time, with a single conical
Ghana (see fig. 1) from a telecommunication satellite corrugated feed providing transmission frequency of
to a fully operational radio telescope instrument was 5.9 6.4 GHz and reception at 3.7 4.2 GHZ
initiated in 2011, by the Ministry of Environment,
Science and Technology, Ghana, and the SKA-
Africa Group in South Africa. The antenna facility
was handed to Ghana Atomic Energy Commission to
make use of it as a radio telescope and further given
to the Ghana Space Science and Technology Institute
(G.S.S.T.I). The G.S.S.T.I in collaboration with the
SKA-Africa group was therefore tasked to solve the
associated technical and logistic problems and apply
the existing facility at Nkuntunse for radio astronomy
among others. Currently, the conversion process is
underway and this paper seeks to review and analyze
the existing antenna feed system in order to optimize
its performance for a successful facility of the global
and Africa Very Long Baseline Interferometry
(VLBI) Network (AVN). For many years, the 32-m
dish dual-reflector system at Nkuntunse Satellite site Figure 1: Overview of the 32-m NEC Antenna

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Analysis Of 32-M Dual Reflector Cassegrain Antenna Feed System At Nkuntunse, Ghana

The initial receiver system is planned to use the

existing feedhorn to provide operation in the 5GHz
radio astronomy band, and we hope, in the 6.7GHz
radio astronomy band later. But this will be an
interim solution to provide an initial operating
capability. Thereafter we need to plan for operation
in bands potentially from 1 GHz to 18 GHz or even
higher. The 32-m Cassegrain dual reflector antenna
consists of two reflectors and a feed antenna. The
feed is conveniently located at the apex of the main
reflector. This makes the system mechanically
robust, the transmission lines are shorter and easier to
construct. The most popular dual reflector is axially
symmetric Cassegrain antenna its main reflector is
parabolic and subreflector is hyperbolic. [J. Trivedi
et.al]

The parabolic reflector antenna is the most preferred

antenna system for many applications; this is because
of its capability of providing higher gain over a wide
bandwidth, availability of accurate modeling
techniques and design maturity [W. V. T. Rusch,
1984].
Feeds are the most critical parts of the reflector
antennas. Most widely used feed components include
conical corrugated horn antennas involving throat
section, the scalar feed, conical corrugated horn
antennas having ring-loaded slots and mode
converters [A.W. Love, ed. 1976]. Conical
corrugated horns are usually connected to a section of
smooth-wall circular horn and transmission line and
must be accurately designed if optimum performance
is to be achieved. Any mismatch between the modes
in the circular waveguide and the modes in the horn
lead to a nonzero reflection coefficient [A. D. Olver,
August, 1961].
Aperture antennas are commonly used with satellite
systems. As one of the aperture antennas horn,
antennas are widely used as a direct radiator or as a
feed for the parabolic reectors. Normally, the horn
antenna consists of an aperture, which is connected to
the waveguide through a ared region, which
provides a smooth transition between the waveguide
and free space. The corrugated conical horn antenna
with excitation from a circular waveguide is
commonly used to produce high radiation eciency.
As a feed for reector antenna, the performance of
the feed has signicant eect on the performance of
the whole reector system. To improve the antenna
eciency, the Gaussian proled horn antenna can be
introduced. [C. Del Rio et. al., 1995] [C. Del Rio et.
al., 1996]. The Cassegrain feed arrangement is shown
in fig. 2, the primary feed is placed at the vertex of
the parabolic reflector
Figure 2. Basic Principle of Cassegrain Antenna
Feed System [P. Wade, 2004]
= Parabolic dish diameter
a = parameter of hyperbola
c= /2 = parameter of hyperbola
= focal length of hyperbola between foci
= angle subtended by parabola
= angle subtended by parabola
= angle subtended by sub reflector
= angle blocked by sub reflector
= angle blocked by feed horn
= angle subtended by sub reflector
= angle blocked by sub reflector
= angle blocked by feed horn
= Parabolic dish focal length
= Sub reflector diameter
MATHEMATICAL ANALYSIS
In dual reflector antennas: feed, feed support beams
and subreflector especially cause distribution losses
and large blockings in antenna apertures. The
radiation pattern from the subreflector is then
calculated at a large number of points on the main
reflector and is used to establish current distribution
on the main reflector. [IMECS, 2009]
Diffraction is a major contributor to losses in small
dishes. Kildal found that the illumination edge taper
in a Cassegrain feed should be somewhat greater than
the nominal 10dB edge taper for a prime-focus dish,
to reduce diffraction loss. [KIL 1983]

231
 Research Journal in Engineering and Applied Sciences (ISSN: 2276-8467) 2(4):230-235
Analysis Of 32-M Dual Reflector Cassegrain Antenna Feed System At Nkuntunse, Ghana

I. Optimum Subreflector Size If , then the angle shadowed by the

Kildal then derived a formula for the optimum
feedhorn is larger than the angle shadowed by the
subreflector size to minimize the combination
subreflector, so the feed will cause additional
of blockage and diffraction losses
1
blockage loss. Hence the following equations can be
5
4 (1) considered;
cos
d 2
E. sin 1 d sub
su b

D p

2
4 s in
0 D p b 2F
(8)
p

where d and are the subreflector diameter and
1
d sub (9)
sub ta n 2 f
main reflector diameter respectively, is the edge hyp
taper given as a ratio We agreed on a feedhorn and angle , the effective
ta p e r in d B
E 10
10

(2) for the feed can be expressed as;
1 (10)
E ffec tiv e fee d f
d
II. Approximate Subreflector Efficiency
Kildal, finally calculated the approximate efficiency
4 ta n
2
for the combination of blockage and IV. Feedhorn
diffraction losses as: We can now calculate the hyperbola dimensions for
2 (3) 2
the sub reflector required to reform the feed horn

d d sub pattern to correctly illuminate the dish, as well as the

1 C b 1 1 s u b
.
D p D p desired focal length of hyperbola and the distance
between the two focus of the hyperbola in the
Where In E (4) following sections. The feedhorn illuminates the
C b

1 E subreflector, which subtends the angle , and this
III. Feed Blockage angle for a given is expressed by;
With a Cassegrain system, we may be able to use an
excellent feedhorn, so that the feedhorn improvement 1
is better than the Cassegrain efficiency loss. If we
2. tan 1 (11)
f
4.
can also minimize feed line loss by making the feed D
location more convenient, so much the better would it To adjust this for edge taper we chose above, we use
be. The minimum blockage condition offers smaller Kellehers universal horn equation;
size of the subreflector and reduced amount of
sidelobe. If the overall diameter of the feed is f D
'
.
edge taper in dB
(12)
then condition for minimum blockage [A. W. Love, 10
ed. 1978.]
Equation (12) is used to correct the illumination angle
F d (5) for our desired subreflector edge taper [P. Wade,

2 f D f 2004].
The diameter for minimum blockage condition is
given by; V. Hyperbola Focal Length
The feed is positioned so that the angle subtended by
2 (6)
D b m in k F the subreflector is , and we placed the feed at one
It shows that the shadows created by feed aperture focus of the hyperbola while the dish prime focus at
and the hyperboloid are nearly equal and they the other; see figure 1. Therefore, the focal length of
contribute to the aperture blockage. If the distance of the hyperbola between the foci is
the subreflector from feed is reduced, the blocking
offered by feed would be greater. If the phase centre
f hyp
0.5d sub cot cot '
(13)

of the feed is known then it should be coincided with Vi. Subreflector Geometry
the real focal point and the minimum blockage The subreflector must reshape the illumination from
condition becomes; the effective feed f /d to for the dish, a
F d (7) magnification factor M expressed as:

2 f D pc Df (14)
E ffe c tiv e fe e d f
The feedhorn blockage, shown as angle in Figure 2 M d
is of great concern. The Rays near the center of the f p

beam that reflect from the subreflector at angles less D p

than are eventually blocked by the subreflector.

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 Research Journal in Engineering and Applied Sciences (ISSN: 2276-8467) 2(4):230-235
Analysis Of 32-M Dual Reflector Cassegrain Antenna Feed System At Nkuntunse, Ghana

This requires a hyperbola with an eccentricity e; RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

M 1 (15) The simulation results of the original design of the
e
M 1 32-m Cassegrain antenna and feed configuration are
Finally, the hyperbola parameters can be calculated presented in fig.3 (a-i).
as
Figure 3(a) shows ICARA [ICARA v. 1.2, 2007]
f hyp software used to compile the picture of the 32 m
c (16) antenna from the available antenna geometry
2 drawings. The following representations show how
c the field from this geometry is analyzed with ICARA.
a (17)
e
b c2 a2 (18)
From figure 1, is the distance from the apex of
the subreflector to the virtual focus which is behind
the subreflector.

is the distance from the apex of the

subreflector to the phase center of the feedhorn.
Finally we checked to make sure the subreflector is in
the far field of the feedhorn given by;
2
2d feed
ca (19)

SIMULATION METHODOLOGY
The simulation parameters for the antenna system
were determined based on the antenna geometry,
taking into account the operating bands
specifications and operational requirements. From the
above equations, values for the hyperbolic
Figure 3(a) Antenna Geometry
subreflector constants were evaluated with
Cassegrain Antenna Design Calculator and Figure 2
In the first simulation, the desired parameters were
shows the model used. [P. Wade, 2004].
placed and the feed is chosen to be cos-q type, then
the resulting feed and the target points gain are
Based on these equations and determined values see
shown in fig. 3 (b)
table 1, the simulations were done with ICARA
(Induced Current Analysis of Reflector Antenna)
0
software by the Antenna Group at the University of
Virgo using Physical Optics (PO) and sometimes also
-2
Physical Theory of Diffraction (PTD).
15
-4
Table 1: Calculation Table (Cassegrain Antenna
Design Calculator) [P. Wade, 2004]. 10
-6
Parameter Values
Frequency 4.0 GHz 5
Dish diameter 32000 mm -8
Dish f/D 0.43
Dish illumination half angle 60.3 deg. 0
-10
Feedhorn equivalent f/D 1.35
Dish focal length 13760 mm -5 -12
Feedhorn Illumination half angle 8.6 deg.
Illumination taper 11.74 dB
Minimum subreflector diameter 2072.1 mm -10 -14
Subreflector focal length 10915.8 mm
Subreflector f/D 1.46 -15 -10 -16
Feedhorn blockage half angle 1.0 deg. 0
Cassegrain loss -0.67 dB -12-10 -8 10
-6 -4 -2
Hyperbola eccentricity e 1.30
Hyperbola a 10395.7 mm
Hyperbola b 8585.8 mm
Hyperbola c 13482.8 mm Figure 3 (b): Feed Surface Configuration
Subreflector magnification 7.73

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 Research Journal in Engineering and Applied Sciences (ISSN: 2276-8467) 2(4):230-235
Analysis Of 32-M Dual Reflector Cassegrain Antenna Feed System At Nkuntunse, Ghana

The magnitude and phase of the cross-polarization

were defined only in the phi constant cut. The
0 radiation pattern is defined in the theta direction from
-5
-10 0 to 10 0. The radiation pattern from the
subreflector was calculated at a large number of
-10
points on the main parabolic reflector and was used
2
-15
to establish current distribution on the main reflector,
0 -20 as shown in fig. 3 (g-h). The radiation pattern outputs
-2 -25
from computation (using ICARA software) were
-8 expressed in electric field. The calculated
-6 -30
-4
0
-2 copolarization and cross-polarization radiation
-2
0 2 -35 patterns are showed in fig. 3 (g-j).
-40

Far Field: u-v plots MAGNITUDE

-45
40

50 30

20

10
Figure 3 (c) Plot Currents showing Aperture Feed
Illumination 0

dBi
0

-10

-20

-30
0
-50 -0.5
1 -0.5 -40
0.5 -10 0
0
0 0.5 0.5
-0.5 -20 u
v
-1

2 1 0 -1 -2
-30 Figure 3 (g): Far Field u-v plot

Far Field: Phi constant cuts MAGNITUDE

10
0

1 -0.5 0
0.5
0 -1

-0.5 -10
-1.5
-1

2 1 0 -1 -2 -2
-20
dBi

-30

-40

Figure 3 (d): Plot-Amplitude-Phase error of the

-50
Aperture Feed Illumination Crosspolar (Mag)

-60

-10 -8 -6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6 8 10
Theta (deg)

Figure 3 (h) Far Field Phi Constant Cuts (Crosspolar

Magnitude)
Far Field: Phi constant cuts MAGNITUDE

60 Copolar (Mag)

50

40

30
dBi

20

10

-10

-10 -8 -6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6 8 10
Theta (deg)

Figure 3 (f): Feed Aperture Axis Figure 3 (i) 2 D Normalised Radiation Pattren

234
 Research Journal in Engineering and Applied Sciences (ISSN: 2276-8467) 2(4):230-235
Analysis Of 32-M Dual Reflector Cassegrain Antenna Feed System At Nkuntunse, Ghana
Figure 3 (j) Co- Polarization Radiation Pattern (3D)
CONCLUSION
We present optimization analysis of the 32-m dual
reflector Cassegrain single conical corrugated feed
system antenna providing reception frequency of 4.0
GHz in this paper. As shown in the Cassegrain
Antenna Design Calculator table (see table 1), this
frequency leads to a desire illumination taper of
11.74 dB and a subreflector efficiency of 85.7 %. The
analysis gave the optimum values of the subreflector
geometric dimension, which implies that the vertex of
the conical transmission feed line is located where it
should so that the wave incident on the subreflector
are spherical with it origin in the proper place (see
fig. 3 (h-i)).
From the study (see table 1), it was found that both
the subreflector and main reflector are shaped and the
f/D ratio of 0.43 are satisfactory to optimally
illuminate the feed aperture of the antenna. The f/D
ratio for maximum efficiency is the dish best
illuminated by the feed. We assumed the best f/D for
a feed is also where it provides illumination with
about 11.74 dB edge taper, the feed taper was found
to be 11.79 dB, being the sum of the subreflector
edge taper plus space attenuation and the feed
directivity of 38.91 dB. The study further revealed
that the 32-m Cassegrains subreflector is large
enough to eliminate the feedhorn blockage,
increasing the focal distance without changing the
subtended half-angle to illuminate for a given f/D
ratio. The ICARA software used apparently
suggested the best edge taper of 11.74 dB which
closely approximates the primary feeds actual
radiation pattern. The radiation pattern shows the
gain depends on the size of the antenna and that
reduces the cross-polarization. Mathematical analysis
of parameters was simple and based on explicit
formulae incorporated in the Cassegrain Antenna
Design Calculator. The calculator involves a number
of approximations, and our limitation was that the
error estimation increased as we stretched the
approximations. The study is limited within these
locations due to the computational burden involved
with the analysis (a single-frequency simulation
requires about some few minutes in a 2.1 GHz i3
dual-core processor machine) and especially the
235
ICARA software which needs calculation at a large
number of points on the main parabolic reflector from
the subreflector to obtain the radiation pattern for
both far and near fields.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors would like to express their profound
thanks to the Radio Astronomy and Control and
Monitoring working groups of the Ghana Space
Science and Technology Institute and their
counterparts from SKA-SA for their valuable support
and help in creating this article.
REFERENCES
A. D. Olver, August, 1961: A. D. Olver, August,
1961. Design of Throat Section of Conical
Corrugated Horns TDA, Progress Report Pp 42-65
A. W. Love, ed. 1978.: Allan W. Love, ed. 1978.
Reflector Antennas New York, IEEE Press.
A. W. Love, ed. 1978.: Allan W. Love, ed. 1976.
Electromagnetic Horn Antennas, New York, IEEE
Press.
C. Del Rio et. Al., 1995: Spanish Patent P.9501922,
Horn Antenna Mode Converter from
Waveguide Modes to Gaussian Structures,
C. Del Rio et. Al., 1996: Spanish Patent P.9601636,
Mode Converter: From the TE11 Monomode
Circular Waveguide Mode to the HE11 Corrugated
Circular Waveguide Mode,
IMEC 2009: M. M. Soe, Z. M. Aung, Z. M. Naing
and K. Theingi Oo (2009) Performance Analysis
and Design Consideration of Cassegrain for Satellite
Communication International Multi Conference of
Engineers and Computer Scientists 2009 Vol. I
ICARA v. 1.2, 2007: ICARA, Induced Current
Analysis of Reflector Antennas-software
http://www.com.uvigo.es/ant
J. Trivedi and S. Shah (2013) Design of Dual
Reflector Cassegrain Feed System Antenna,
International Journal of Engineering Trends and
Technology, Vol. 4 Issue 3, 2013, Pp 358
KIL 1983: P-S. Kildal "The Effects of Subreflector
Diffraction on the Aperture Efficiency of a
Conventional Cassegrain Antenna-An Analytical
Approach" IEEE Trans. Antennas Propagat., vol.
AP31, N0.6, pp. 903-909, Nov.1983
P. Wade, 2004. Multiple Reflector Dish Antennas
W. V. T. Rusch, The Current State of the Reflector
Antenna Art, IEEE Transactions on Antennas and
Propagation, vol. 32, pp. 313-329, April 1984